Article holders for wheeled vehicles are generally known as a means for transporting articles, and are exemplified by article holders for bicycles, wheelchairs, and the like. However, typical prior art article suffer from a number of drawbacks.
Respecting wheelchairs in particular, there presently exist no article holders intended to be physically attached to a wheelchair and which are easily accessible by persons confined to wheelchairs. Because of the restricted reach and mobility of persons confined to wheelchairs, the placement of the article holder is important. Currently, the traditional fabric-style bag is the article holder most commonly employed by the majority of wheelchair users. This type of bag is typically hung from the side arm rests of the wheelchair or from the support structure on the back of the wheelchair frame. The placement of these prior art type bags is disadvantageous in that it interferes with the movement of the wheelchair's wheels, thus affecting the overall maneuverability of the wheelchair. With the traditional fabric-style bag the presumably easy task of removing and/or placing articles in the bag, especially when the bag is hung on the back of the wheelchair frame, becomes extremely difficult if not altogether impossible. Additionally, it is very difficult for wheelchair users to maintain sight of these bags when they are placed on the back of the wheelchair. This can require the wheelchair user to resort to the assistance of a second party in order to make use of the bag.
At least one answer to these problems has been the swing-out style back pack, disclosed by Kehler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,443, according to which a back pack is pivotally disposed on a post secured in vertical orientation to the wheelchair frame. With this device, however, there still remain problems of inaccessibility when the pack is returned to its resting position in back of the user. The swing-out style back pack is also disadvantageous in that, in the accessible orientation, the back pack covers the armrest area of the side of the wheelchair upon which the back pack swings out, thereby preventing the wheelchair user from maintaining contact with the wheel on that side of the chair. This causes a loss of wheelchair maneuverability and, ultimately, lack of safety for the wheelchair user.
Still other article holders peculiar to wheelchairs include the under-the-chair net extending under the seat portion of the wheelchair. Unfortunately, articles placed in the under-the-chair net tend to bounce out of the net, especially while the wheelchair is traversing bumpy terrain. This results in the loss of articles from the net.
Other references of interest with respect to the prior art type article holders include Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,803, illustrating an armrest-mounted wheelchair accessory that may accept a wire basket, desk top or tray attachment; Dyess, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,182, teaching a wheelchair with a pivoted basket mounted to a vertical frame portion of the wheelchair; Cumbie, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,040,813 and 4,705,287, teaching, respectively, an accessory holder and mount for a wheelchair of the type having no arm rests, the mount including a base secured to a lower frame member of the wheelchair, and a tray support for a wheelchair, the tray support being carried by an arm pivotally disposed on one of the vertical supports of the wheelchair; and Romich, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,240, teaching an apparatus for mounting equipment to wheelchairs, the apparatus being mounted to the armrest of a wheelchair.